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Manila Is in Bind Over Peace Talks
With Rebel Group Tied to al Qaeda

By

Jay Solomon Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

Updated March 11, 2002 12:01 a.m. ET

MANILA, Philippines -- Mounting allegations of ties between the Philippines' largest Muslim rebel army, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, and the international terrorist group al Qaeda has put Manila in a policy bind over whether to pursue its peace talks with the MILF.

The Philippine government and the MILF are currently observing a year-old cease-fire agreement in an attempt to end their decades-old civil war. But allegations by Philippine security forces that the MILF is violating the truce, as well as continuing to cooperate with al Qaeda, last week caused President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's government to postpone previously scheduled peace talks.

"We need to verify whether any of these charges are true," said presidential spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao, in an interview. "If there is more evidence of active links [to al Qaeda] then we would say that peace talks aren't possible."

The latest allegations of the MILF's involvement with al Qaeda stems from the arrests in November and December of four Arab men, who Philippine officials charge formed an al Qaeda "sleeper cell" in Southeast Asia. The four -- two Palestinians and two Jordanians -- are being held for illegal possession of firearms and violations of Philippine immigration laws.

But Philippine officials say they believe the men served a broader role for al Qaeda, supplying arms and munitions to Islamist groups in the country, as well as serving as recruiters for Osama bin Laden's terrorist organization.

Training Camp?

The men "are suspected to be actively involved in recruiting members from terrorists belonging" to the MILF and other groups, says a Philippine police report. Indeed, the MILF is alleged to have used their camps on the Philippine island of Mindanao to train Islamist militants from a number of countries.

Philippine police say that one of the men, a Palestinian named Mohammad Sabri Selamah, has worked closely in the past with Mr. bin Laden's brother-in-law, Mohammad Jamal Khalifah, in running an Islamic charity in the southern Philippines. The charity is believed to have provided funding to the MILF and the Abu Sayyaf, an Islamic gang that is currently holding an American couple hostage on Basilan island.

The second Palestinian, Ahmad Abed Masrie, Philippine police say, was a former roommate in Manila of Ramzi Yousef, the convicted mastermind behind the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.

Andrea Domingo, commissioner of the Philippines' Bureau of Immigration, said these men "were supporting terrorist activities in the Philippines and other countries."

The police say they have also tied the MILF to the Jemaah Islamiyah, a regional Islamic group allegedly behind a plot to blow up the U.S. and Israeli embassies in Singapore. In January, Philippine police arrested Fathur Rohman Al-Ghozi, an Indonesian citizen, and three MILF members for allegedly trying to ship a ton of explosives into Singapore for the attack. They also say Mr. Al-Ghozi and an accomplice from the MILF bombed a rail line in Manila in late 2000, killing 22 people.

But the MILF roundly denies it is cooperating with al Qaeda and blames the military for trumping up the charges to sabotage the peace process. MILF commanders say they are concerned that the Philippine armed forces are trying to use terrorism charges to drive the MILF's forces into conflict with the U.S. Nearly 700 American troops are currently deployed in the southern Philippines to aid Manila's war against the Abu Sayyaf, and they are operating in many areas where the MILF is active.

"Ultimately, the Philippine military will find a way to draw us into the conflict," said Al-Haj Murad Ibrahim, chief of staff for the MILF army, in a phone interview. "They are manufacturing their claims to justify it."

The four detained Arab men deny they are members of al Qaeda or that they broke Philippine laws. Mr. Masrie said in a court hearing Thursday that he had never even met Mr. Yousef and that two guns were planted in a raid on his house in November. Rene Saguisag, a lawyer for Mr. Selamah, said his client was never a close associate of Mr. Khalifah, Mr. bin Laden's brother-in-law, and was engaged only in legitimate charity activities in the southern Philippines to aid the region's poor.

"I'm a law-abiding citizen, a victim of [the] planting of evidence at a time when the whole world is paranoid about those who look the way we do," Mr. Masrie said in a written affidavit.

Informal Talks

Aides to Ms. Arroyo say her government remains committed to pursuing a peace dialogue with the MILF. National security adviser Roilo Golez said Friday informal talks with the MILF leadership will continue and that they may prove more constructive than ones held in a formal setting.

Others in Ms. Arroyo's government said they believe that while elements of the MILF may have been influenced by al Qaeda, the group's leadership remains a legitimate voice of the Filipino Muslims.

Mr. Golez, for one, is skeptical about the allegations being made by some members of the Philippine security forces. "The military is often responding to the papers" when describing the MILF's terrorist links, he said. "It's not based on their own knowledge."

Manila Is in Bind Over Peace Talks
With Rebel Group Tied to al Qaeda

MANILA, Philippines -- Mounting allegations of ties between the Philippines' largest Muslim rebel army, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, and the international terrorist group al Qaeda has put Manila in a policy bind over whether to pursue its peace talks with the MILF.